Demons
by iwomans-sister
Summary: A few demons from Darien’s past come back to haunt him, and he decides to get peace again by saying goodbye.


Title: Demons 

Author: iwomans_sister

Email: Watson@thefriendlyfew.com

Disclaimer: I don't own the show The Invisible Man' or the plot idea's and characters of the show, nor do I claim to own them. However, I do own the plot idea of this fic, so please, don't sue. I'm broke anyway.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: WAY too many to count!

Genre: Angst

Authors Note: This bunny bit me after midnight... So, it's kinda weird. I actually wrote this fic with a different ending the first time, but after thinking about it I thought this one would be a lot better.

*A warm hearted thank you to liz_Z who does all my Beta Reading and never fails. I love you, girl!*

Summary: A few demons from Darien's past come back to haunt him, and he decides to get peace again he needs to say goodbye.

"There's this Chinese Proverb that says, The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.' I had a mountain in front of me, but moving the small stones wasn't what I was looking forward to. Those small stones looked like mountains of their own to me."

What looked like a peaceful slumber to someone watching on the outside was actually a sweat drenched nightmare. Darien Fawkes' eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed, beads of sweat dripping off of his face. His hair was damp, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Visions of his brother's death flashed in his head, along with the death of Allianora. For the last few weeks Darien's normally semi-peaceful dreams had turned into horror filled, mostly sleepless nights.

He dreaded closing his eyes most nights for fear of dreaming of Kevin's death, and now he had been living it over and over since the nightmares had started. It always seemed so real. So vivid. So... Alive. Then there was Allianora, he hadn't loved her, but he had cared about her. And her death was just another stumbling block in his life. Darien had lost too many people in his lifetime that he cared for or loved; his mom, Kelly, Kevin, and even Allianora. 

There had been a time when he had even thought he had lost his father, and even though he didn't know his father very well when he had left, it still hurt. But even more so when his father had left him for the second time. Again, when Darien had needed him the most. He was tired of everyone leaving him. Tired of being the one left. Darien knew he wasn't a saint, but if there was even an inkling of good in him, and he knew there was, then it made the statement true that bad things happen to good people.

He had had his share of bad. Enough to last him two lifetimes... Maybe three. He knew that there were people out there who had been through worse, but it didn't make sense to him why so many bad things could happen to just one person. The only good things he had going for him at the moment were Hobbes and Claire... They were his only friends and the only people he could trust.

Darien looked at the glowing red letters of his alarm clock, 4:24am. He had slept longer this morning than the one before and considered that a good sign. He got out of his bed, then headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. When he was done he decided he would go to the Keep and visit with Claire; she was almost always there before 6:00am.

~*~

"Claire, you in here?" Darien asked, slipping his keycard back into his back pocket with his right hand. With his left he was holding a cardboard holder with two cups of coffee in it, and a white paper bag from a near by bakery. 

Claire could smell the scent of fresh blueberries. She looked up at Darien and smiled. "Ah, food. My hero." She took in his appearance. He was wearing blue jeans, faded at the kneecaps, a white T-shirt and his famous tan leather jacket. His hair was in a mess of golden brown locks, and he looked tired. Extremely tired. 

"Thought you'd be hungry." Darien said sheepishly.

"You thought right." She replied, setting down the vial of neon green liquid that she had been working on and removing her latex gloves. "So, Darien," She said, her British accent thick, "what brings you here at this ungodly hour?"

"I just wanted to hear your voice." He teased, a wicked smile playing across his lips.

"You're almost as bad as Bobby."

"That may be true," He replied, handing her one of the coffee cups, "but at least I bring you sustenance." He opened the paper bag and pulled out, to her pleasure, a blueberry muffin.

"Well then, in that case you're forgiven." Claire took a sip of the hot liquid and savored the flavor. There had been many times where Hobbes had stopped by in the Keep to give her breakfast and have a small chat, even flirt a little. But she wasn't about to tell Darien that. Pulling a piece off of her muffin she nibbled on it, then put it in her mouth. "Mmm, this is delicious."

"I knew you'd like it." Darien replied, taking a rather nice sized bite out of his own. "I got you another one, figured it'd be a nice break from the yogurt you always eat." 

"And what's wrong with my yogurt?" She asked playfully.

"Why nothing of course, I was just saying..." Darien replied, trailing off and leaving her to wonder what he had meant.

"You're a wicked man, Darien Fawkes." Claire said, snatching the second muffin from his hand.

"And a little crazy too."

"Well, not anymore you aren't." Claire's smile turned to a frown, "So, why did you really come here? Something's wrong, I can tell."

"No reason, I'm fine..."

"Darien, you forget that after two years, I know you. Now, what's wrong?"

"Well, I've been having these dreams..."

Claire waited, but after Darien didn't say anything else she replied. "I can't read your mind, you know."

"I know, it's... It's just..."

Claire responded with a hurt look on her face, "Now it's either one of two reasons why you are hesitant to tell me. One, you're either hurt or embarrassed about it and don't want me to know, or two, you don't trust me enough to tell me what it is."

"It's not that, Claire. You know I trust you, I trust you with my life."

"Then what's the problem, Darien?"

"It's Kevin."

Claire had thought of many things it could have been, but she hadn't thought in any of her conclusions that it would be about Darien's brother. "I thought you said you hadn't had dreams about what happened for months now?"

"I hadn't... Until recently."

"How recent?"

"I don't know, a few weeks." 

"Darien, you should have said something." Claire replied.

"It's other people too. People from my past. People I never wanted to let go of. I miss them. All of them. It just, it hurts Claire. Never getting to say goodbye."

"So, why don't you say goodbye then?"

"It's not that simple."

"Or maybe it is. Maybe it's so simple that you just don't see it?"

"Claire, it's not that, it can't..." Darien stopped in mid sentence.

"What now, Darien?" She shocked as to why Darien wasn't more willing to open up to her. She had thought that they were closer than that. "Darien?" Claire snapped her fingers, looking Darien in the eyes.

Darien blinked once, then again.

"Are you okay? You spaced off there for a minute."

"Yeah, sorry. I was just remembering something... You know what, Claire? Maybe you're right. I'll see you later, I have some things I need to take care of." Before she could reply or make any attempt to stop him the Keep door and Darien was gone. "Glad I could help..."

~*~

Darien stood on the sidewalk, looking at the grass and weeds that had broken through the cracks. The sun was shining bright, casting shadows all around him. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had last been here, but he knew it was time to start facing his demons. He had taken a cheap plane to get to Cold Springs, but he needed to see Kelly's grave. He needed to let it go.

Darien started walking up the grass, looking at the headstones. When he came across Kelly's his eyes started to water, but he stopped the tears before they started to flow. "Hey Kel, it's been awhile... You know, I saw Father Tom a while ago. It wasn't really a social call, I tried to kill him, actually. I guess I held in all the anger until it exploded. But then again, I wasn't really myself.

"I'm so sorry, Kelly. I didn't know. I didn't know what the sick son of a bitch was doing to you." He said, referring to her step-father. "After you killed yourself, everyone found out. The Police questioned Father Tom and found out that you had told him what was going on at home." A tear rolled off of Darien's cheek and landed on the grass.

"He never said anything because you had told him in secret, not wanting anything bad to happen to your father. If I had known, if you would have told me, I would have killed him..." Darien paused. "I guess you knew that. I guess that's why you didn't tell me... But, you should have... You should have trusted me enough to at least try to let me help."

Now Darien's tears were flowing like a spring rain. "I'm sorry, Kelly." He said again. "I'm so sorry. I should have known, I should have seen it. We were friends, and I missed all the signs."

"Darien?"

Darien turned around and saw Claire standing on the sidewalk; she started up onto the grass. "How did you find me?"

"I called Bobby after you left, we followed you to the airport."

"But how did you know _where_ to find me?"

"When we found out your flight was bond for Cold Springs, Bobby thought it was to go see your Aunt Celia. She's a kind woman."

"Yes, she is." Darien said, very aware of his Aunt's mental condition. "But I still don't understand how by talking to her you were able to find me."

"She remembered that you used to come here a lot when you were younger."

Darien was a little perplexed, but instead he just nodded. "Did she tell you why?" Claire shook her head no. Darien pointed at the head stone in front of him. "Did I ever tell you about Kelly?"

"No, Darien. I don't believe you did. Who was she?"

"She was great, you would have really liked her..." 

The End


End file.
